Beauté et la bête
by charlieNo2
Summary: Bel King has just moved from Australia to a small provincial town in France... how will she handle the changes and mysteries in store for her? i edited chapter 1
1. The first day

Chapter 1 – The First Day

The sun streamed in through the thin curtains and fell across my face. I muttered in my sleep and snuggled further down into the warmth of my covers. On cue the digital clock beside my bed began to screech that it was time to get up. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.

"Oh shut up will you?" I muttered as I pressed the off button on the alarm. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I swung my legs out of bed and got up. I stumbled sleepily to the bathroom and locked myself in there for half an hour.

Half an hour later I emerged from the bathroom fresh and ready to greet the world, well on the outside at least.

"Bel are you ready yet?" came a masculine voice from downstairs. I sighed and called back,

"Almost Papa! I just have to pack my bag." I crossed back to my room, threw a few exercise books and pens into my backpack and walked downstairs.

"There you are," Marius King exclaimed as I entered the kitchen.

"I know, I know, I don't have time for breakfast."

"Here's your lunch and here's some money to get something to eat on the walk through town. I'll be working all day so I won't be here when you get home. I'll see you tonight." I smiled inwardly, Papa always rambled nowadays, perhaps it was his way of dealing with my mother's death. Kissing him goodbye I left the house and made my way down the dirt track towards the village.

I entered the town and felt like I'd stepped back in time 100 years. The streets were cobbled, something I had hardly ever seen back home, people wandered past me carrying baskets full of fresh bread and other foodstuffs, speaking in rapid French, I could even see a shepherd boy moving his flock through the streets. Shaking my head to myself I headed to the bakery to buy something to eat. Exiting the shop five minutes later with a fresh croissant in hand I started walking slowly towards the school building. As I crossed the square I heard someone wolf-whistle. Trying to ignore it I continued walking towards the building, hoping that whoever was whistling wasn't whistling at me. No such luck, I didn't get five meters before a tall muscle bound guy accosted me.

"Hé, quel est ton nom ?" he asked, while quite obviously checking me out. I rolled my eyes inwardly; things were not going well so far.

"Je m'appelle Belinda. Excusez-moi, je suis en retard." I didn't want to be rude but I wasn't particularly comfortable around this guy. He mumbled something in French that I didn't understand, "Excusez-moi mais je ne parle pas tres bien francais."

"Parle vous anglais?" he asked in a questioning tone.

"Oui. Excusez-moi." Without another word I ducked around the guy, almost running into another small guy that was standing behind him. Excusing myself from him I walked quickly towards the school building. Breathing a sigh of relief I made it into the building without being accosted by anyone else. I wasn't particularly looking forward to today, my first day at a French school. I didn't even speak French that well; I only knew basic phrases from my 7 years of inattention at Primary school in Australia. It wasn't going to be easy.

"Bonjour mademoiselle, comment allez vous?" came a pleasant voice from beside me. I turned to face the source of the voice and found that it belonged to an older man with a kindly face.

"Tres bien merci. Je suis desole mais je ne parle pas tres bien francais."

"Well then I suppose it is a good thing that I speak English," he smiled, "My name is Monsieur Falegnarme, I am the English teacher here."

"Falegnarme? Doesn't that mean carpenter in Italian?"

"I believe it does. Now I also believe that you should go and collect your timetable, although you will probably find that you have English for the first lesson."

"Merci beaucoup, but where would I go to find my timetable."

"Follow me and I will show you." Monsieur Falegnarme turned and walked down the hallway. I followed him through the maze of corridors, thinking to myself that I would never be able to find my way back. Suddenly Monsieur Falegnarme turned off the corridor into a small room. He said something in rapid French that I couldn't understand to the lady standing by the printer who proceeded to pull some papers from a tray on the desk nearby and hand them to me. I murmured my thanks in French and stared down at the timetable in my hands, trying to make sense of it. Monsieur Falegnarme came and took the papers out of my hands. Glancing at them he said,

"I was correct, you have English first lesson, then Mathematics, Physical Education and Art, very lucky for your first day in a French school," I nodded in silent agreement, "Well I suppose you will be quite eager to meet your classmates. Come, they will be in their classroom already." I looked at him in confusion.

"In their classroom? Don't they change classrooms?" Monsieur Falegnarme raised his eyebrows at me.

"Change classrooms? No, they do not change classrooms, they remain in the same classroom for most subjects other than Art, Science and Physical Education." I nodded and fell back into silence. He slowed down and turned into a classroom with a number of students who looked as though they were about the same age as me. Groaning inwardly I noticed that the guy who had accosted me before was also among the students.

"Bonjour Monsieur Falegnarme," the students chorused as they noticed the teacher stride into the room.

"Bonjour. Belinda there is a free seat over there near Gaston if you wish to be seated," Monsieur Falegnarme said, indicating the free seat in front of the obnoxious guy I had met before. Deciding it was better not to argue, I moved quietly towards the free seat and sat down. Monsieur Falegnarme put his briefcase down on the teacher's desk and pulled some worksheets from it.

"Pour aujourd'hui remplissez svp ces feuilles de travail. Si vous avez aucune questionne n'hésite à demander," he said, passing the sheets to one of the students who proceeded to hand them out. I glanced at the sheet as it landed on the desk in front of me and stifled a giggle. I looked questioningly at Monsieur Falegnarme who smiled and said,

"No Belinda you do not have to do this worksheet, I am supposed to teach you French." I smiled back at him and pushed the sheet aside. The other students began murmuring as they pulled pencils and pens from their bags. Monsieur Falegnarme told me to wait a moment and left the room so I sat there, trying not to look completely lost. Suddenly I became aware that behind me someone was whispering. Trying not to look as though I was eavesdropping, although it wouldn't matter if I was because I didn't understand anything they were saying anyway, I trained my hearing on the conversation. I could only pick up a few words here and there, and most of it was too fast for me to understand anyway but I could understand enough to know that Gaston was talking about me.

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**A/N -** well how was that? This is my second attempt at fanfic so hopefully it's alright. I know it's not a particularly original storyline but hopefully things might change down the track. Please R&R and tell me what you think!

ta darlings, Charlie

P.S. thanks TrudiRose, I now know why everyone loves you so much. After reading your review I changed the encounter with Gaston a bit, hopefully it's better, I'm not particularly good at getting that sort of thing across. And there's a bit more about the reasons for themove from Australia to France in the next chapter... not quite finished but hopefully soon,I get rather impatient with my stories so it might seem a bit rushed.


	2. Worry

Chapter 2 - Worry

I got used to people talking about me. I also found that it was true that if you immersed yourself in the culture you learnt the language a lot faster. In seven years of school in Australia I'd learnt less French than I learnt in the first two weeks of living in Fontaine Nouveau. The things that I had learnt came back to me quickly even though I hadn't practised them since I left primary school five years before. To try and learn French more quickly, I became a bit of a bookworm and movie buff, reading everything I could get my hands on in French and watching every movie I could find that had been dubbed.

This however got me the reputation of being 'weird' and antisocial, which was completely wrong but I really didn't care because I was beginning to find that the people in the village were completely backwards in their thinking, almost to the point of being stuck in the middle ages. The worst of them all was the idiot, Gaston. Everyone was enamoured with his jock-like looks and arrogant air, everyone except me. He actually seemed surprised when I turned down his invitation to join him at the local bar. Apart from the fact that I didn't drink at that stage, having come from Australia where the legal drinking age is 18 and I was only 17, I didn't find the prospect of spending an evening in a drunk Gaston's company particularly appealing, especially since his obvious moves on me were bad enough when he was sober.

It was quite obvious that he wasn't used to being refused and I found that after the weekend was over my reputation had gone from being simply antisocial to weird and insane for not wanting to be groped by Gaston. The only person in town whose company I found I enjoyed was that of Monsieur Falegnarme, who apart from being the resident English teacher and only fluent English speaker in the village, was someone with whom I could talk about almost anything.

In the eyes of the villagers, my character was fixed as the most bizarre girl in the known universe who enjoyed books, movies and the company of the English teacher instead of Gaston LeReoux and the town pastime, gossiping. So life went on and eventually my father and I settled into the mundane way of life that was the village. But I still missed my old life, the bustle of the town that I'd lived in in Australia and my friends, and I wanted nothing more than to go back to what I considered home. There was no possibility of that however as my father's Australian visa had expired just after my mother's death and he had no desire to return to a country that brought back painful memories. And Papa had gone and made me a French citizen.

About a year after we first moved to the village Papa went to work and didn't return. As usual he left just before I went to school, leaving me to lock up and make my own way around for the day. He said that he would be late home so I didn't particularly worry, although I was a bit worried that he would have to travel through the forest at night. I made it through the day without much hassle, most of the villagers now contented themselves with whispering behind my back and Gaston had backed off a little since the bar episode. I let myself into the house in the afternoon with a sigh and the thought of writing a letter to my best friend who would doubtless be wondering why on earth I hadn't replied to the letter she sent me a few weeks back. I threw my bag down on the kitchen table and grabbed the bread and jam from the pantry to make myself a sandwich. A few minutes later I settled down at the table with a plate and pulled my books out of my bag, knowing I should finish my homework before I started on a letter to Ella. The afternoon changed to evening and the evening changed to night, by ten o'clock I was getting tired and a little worried that Papa hadn't come home yet. I went to bed hoping that he would be home by morning.

Morning arrived and I went into Papa's room to see if he was home. His bed was untouched, making my heart beat a little faster as I raced downstairs to see if he'd collapsed on the couch, praying to God that he had simply been too tired to walk up the stairs. There was no sign of him in the lounge room or anywhere else in the house for that matter. I became frantic, running out to the garage to see if his motorbike was there; it wasn't.

"Ok Bel, calm down," I ordered myself, running my hands through my hair. I racked my brains for a way to get in contact with him, cursing the lack of reception in the village and its environs, which had made Papa doubt the usefulness of a mobile phone. The best I could come up with was to call his office and see if he'd actually left the night before; there was a small chance that he'd thought it too dangerous to come back through the forest so late at night. With shaking hands I dialled the number, swearing when I got an answering machine. With a sigh I realised that I would have to rely on the village for help; and I did not hold high hopes for my warm reception. I had a quick shower, pulled some clothes on, grabbed my key and wallet and ran down to the village. The village was still quiet when I got there, the market hadn't opened yet and the villagers were probably still having breakfast. I got to the square and stopped; I didn't know how to explain my predicament to the police as it was doubtful that they understood much English. After a moment's indecision I doubled back and made my way to Monsieur Falegnarme's apartment. He answered my urgent knocking in a dressing gown with a piece of toast in his hand.

"Bel?" he asked bewilderedly.

"Monsieur I need your help," I said, pleading with my voice. He moved away from the door.

"Come in, come in. What is wrong?" he asked in English, noting my obviously agitated state.

"My Papa, he didn't come home last night. I tried calling his office but I only got an answering machine. I'm sure he would have answered if he'd been there." Monsieur Falegnarme's expression changed to one of worry.

"Alright, let me change and I will take you to the police station." He disappeared into another room for a few minutes, leaving me to pace his living area. Finally he returned and we walked to the police station.

Just as I expected the police did not seem very troubled by my father's disappearance. They asked me questions through Monsieur Falegnarme, my French had deserted me in my agitation, but I could see that they weren't really interested. Finally they said something to Monsieur Falegnarme who turned to me and translated,

"They said that they will send someone to look through the forest but they think it is likely that he merely stayed the night with someone from his work."

"He would have called me if that were the case," I said in English, frustrated that the police were not taking this seriously, but I could see that I was going to get nowhere. I sighed, "Thankyou for your time," I said in French to the two officers. I glanced towards Monsieur Falegnarme and turned on my heel. I heard him murmur something to the two men and come after me. Out in the square I turned to face him.

"Thankyou for helping me," I said in a resigned voice, "Would you understand if I didn't come to school today?"

"Of course," he replied, looking at me with concern, "Just don't do anything silly." I smiled, anything silly… well that depends on whose point of view you are looking from. I said goodbye and made my way back home, determined that if the police weren't going to do anything then I would.

**A/N - **well how was that? sorry I didn't update sooner but exams and my sister stealing my laptop have prevented me from actually finishing this. Thankyou to all my reviewers... you guilt-tripped me into finishing this but it's a good thing seeing as it seems to have gotten me over my writer's block.

**Trudi Rose** - thanks for that email... i appreciate your suggestions but i'm not really gonna focus on gaston that much... he's just a bit of side entertainment for the less interesting first part. As for the French question there may be but i don't actually speak French so i don't know; i just thought it sounded a bit ruder... the original way was supposed to be the formal way of saying it (i think... don't hold it against me if i'm wrong). I thought it may be a bit worse but that's only going from my knowledge of Italian where if you speak to a stranger in the informal way you get a slap across the face.

**Bella** - sorry if i confused you with the French... if you really wanna know what it says then you can use this translator http/ it's what I used to actually write it but the meaning isn't actually that important to the whole story line.

**Shortstef** - i hope this update lives up to your expectations... i doubt it but here's hoping

**Lotte Rose 37** - thanks! I hope i justify your apparent faith in me. i'm not sure how original it's going to be but hopefully it won't be boring.

**Epalladino** - not exactly sure where it's going yet... i never think that far ahead so it's open to suggestion. also, you have the same name as me (the one you signed on your review)! is yours shortened or is that your real name? sorry if that seems weird but it's not often i come across someone with the same name.

**pupsrneat** - my aim in using French wasn't to confuse people... although i realise now i should probably have made that a bit clearer. i was trying to get across her isolation (damn english now i'm analysing my own work). but now i'm feeling lazy and i'm just gonna say if she's speaking English or French (plus she understands most of it now so it doesn't matter).

well anyway... it's almost midnight and mum probably has heaps of chores for me to do tomorrow. i'll try and update faster but next week i'm babysitting my cousins pulls face, whose computer doesn't work then it's straight into year 12 (the last year for those who don't know the australian school system). keep reviewing please... for the most part they make me smile... and guilt-trip me into updating

ta, charlie


	3. A Garden?

I looked out my window as I pulled my riding boots on. It had been an hour since I reported my father missing and I still hadn't seen anyone come from the village, let alone a police officer. Well that just proves it, I thought angrily, they're the most backward people on the face of this planet if they won't take this seriously just because they think I'm strange.

Tying up my laces I stood up and ran downstairs. I grabbed a backpack from the closet and filled it with food and medical supplies. I pulled out my riding helmet and jammed it on my head; it wouldn't help Papa if I fell off my horse and knocked myself out. Calming myself down I walked quickly out to the stables. One good thing about having to move to this small village was that I was able to have my own horse. My black mare, Chiara, snorted and stamped as I entered the stables, picking up on my tense feelings.

"Shh, it's alright girl," I said stroking her nose; I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince. I saddled her up and led her out into the yard. I mounted and dug my heels in to move her forward.

"Let's go find Papa," I whispered, urging the horse to go faster.

I wasn't planning on leaving the path. I knew that whatever Papa did, he wouldn't take the chance of getting lost by taking a shortcut. But as the morning turned into afternoon and I'd been along the entire path and back and still hadn't found any sign of Papa I started getting worried all over again. Throwing caution to the wind I rode off on a side path in the hope that he might have gotten lost in the darkness and taken a wrong turn. Following the path along the trees got wilder, gnarled and twisted as they strove towards what little light penetrated this deep part of the forest.

I slowed Chiara down a little to avoid the fallen branches and potholes in the path. The further along I went the less light reached the forest floor, making it seem as though it was late night and putting me more and more on edge. Every twig that snapped made me jump, even though part of my mind told me that I was being ridiculous, I couldn't help but think of the stories I had heard in the village about dangerous creatures who lived in this deep part of the forest.

The forest was the focus of most of the urban legends in the village, most people knew a couple of stories that centred on the forest and its dangers and although I knew most of it was probably to keep the little children from venturing too far into the forest I couldn't help but think, as I heard a far off howl, that there might have been some truth to them. Another howl sounded, a lot closer this time, and spooked Chiara. I only had time to grab the reins tighter before she reared and bolted. I pulled the reins but to no avail, Chiara was too scared to pay my orders any heed. All I could do was hold on and hope that she didn't fall into a hole.

Finally Chiara calmed down enough for me to control her. I slowed her to a stop and looked around but I couldn't see the path anywhere.

"Where have you taken us Chiara?" I asked, vainly trying to look through the trees. I looked at my watch and cursed. The darkness of the forest had veiled the real oncoming of night and it was now 6:30pm.

"Come on," I said, flicking the reins and urging Chiara into a walk. A whole day of searching had produced nothing as much as I was worried about Papa I didn't particularly want to be wandering around the forest at night. I randomly picked a direction; with no sun to follow I could only guess at the direction of the village and to be honest I just wanted to get out of the trees and away from whatever was howling.

We wandered for a couple of hours trying to find either the path or the edge of the forest. I was about to give up and sleep under the trees when I came across a slightly overgrown path. Hoping it led back to the main path I followed it and eventually came to a large, very solid gate. I couldn't see where the wall that it was built into ended and I was too tired to go back along the path so I dismounted and gave the gate a shove. Very slowly it gave and I could see that beyond the gate was a rather well tended garden.

"Oh great," I muttered. There was quite obviously someone who lived here; the path was too overgrown to have been used regularly. I pushed the gate a little wider so that Chiara could get through then shut it again; at least in here we would be safe from whatever wild animals inhabited this part of the forest.

Taking Chiara's reins in my hands I led her down the path, the gardens on either side taking my breath away. At first I was simply amazed that there was a recognisable garden in the middle of the forest but as I followed the path, I saw plants flourishing that I knew should not, and could not, even grow in the soil around here. Finally I turned a corner and the house came into view. Well I say house but really it was more of a mansion. It was a huge, imposing stone building that unlike the garden, looked as though it hadn't seen a maintenance worker in years. There were cobwebs everywhere, like someone had taken a reel of extra fine cotton and strewn it about. The paint on the shutters and window boxes was peeling and the downpipe was falling away from the wall but it looked a lot more inviting than sleeping outside in the cold. I led Chiara around the back, hoping to find something to tie her up with and was rewarded with a stable.

"Well isn't this nice?" I said with a smile as I led her into one of the stalls. I took her saddle and bridle off and placed them on the hooks on the walls. I thought about cleaning the tack with the cleaning gear I found beside the feed box but decided against it, as I still needed to find the owner of this place and make sure it was alright to stay for the night.

I left Chiara in the stable and went back to the front door. All the windows were obviously shut up for the night so I didn't know if anyone was even up. Shrugging I knocked on the door; if worst came to worst I could sleep in the stable and talk to someone in the morning, surely whoever lived here wouldn't mind if I just slept in the stable. I listened at the door for footsteps and as I leant against it, it swung open.

"Hello?" I called into the darkness but no one answered. I hesitated for a moment before stepping inside.

"Bonjour mademoiselle," came a voice from behind the door. Startled I swung around but no one was there. The door seemed to shut of its own accord, be it from the wind or some unseen force and at the other end of the entrance hall a torch lit itself. I must be seeing things, I thought to myself as I peered at the now brightly burning torch.

"Judging by the late hour at which mademoiselle calls one must assume that she is lost," came the voice again, this time somewhere in front of me, "It is not safe to be wandering the forest at this time of night so if mademoiselle does not object I am sure the master would not mind extending his hospitality for this one night."

"I… well… I… yes, um… thankyou." I felt extremely silly talking to thin air but as hard as I looked around I could not for the life of me see where the voice was coming from.

"Very well, if mademoiselle would like to follow me I will show you to your room." I stared blankly for a moment.

"Um, I don't mean to be rude but… how? I can't see you."

"Oh, of course," a man materialised out of thin air about two metres away from me. I jumped, not expecting a ghost or apparition or whatever this guy was to appear so suddenly, "Is that better mademoiselle?"

"Ah, yes well I can see you now."

"Tres bien, now if you will follow me, I am sure you are very tired." The man turned and walked down a corridor leading off the entrance hall. I followed him closely, scared that he would disappear on me again. Every now and again he would disappear and reappear a few metres ahead of me. Finally he stopped outside a door and said,

"You can sleep here for the night. If you require anything simply ring the bell."

"Thankyou," was all I had time to say before he disappeared again.

"Sweet dreams mademoiselle," came his voice from in front of me. Shaking my head I opened the door and walked into the bedroom.

On the bed I found a nightdress lain out, which I gratefully changed into before climbing into the comfortable bed and snuggling down under the covers. I didn't even have time to register what the room looked like before my eyes refused to remain open and I fell into a deep sleep

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**A/N** - wellI hope you all enjoyed that... I liked writing it coz it meant that I didn't have to listen to my cousins and their screaming matches (well I had something to take my mind off it). I'm almost finished the next one (shakes head in wonder... I'm actually ahead of myself?) and the beast finally makes his appearance, it took me ages to figure out what to do with him but inspiration came thanks to my sister (who knew her annoying tv shows could be so useful). anyway that's all I'll say for now... I've gotta leave some surprises hehe. the next couple of chapters will probably be pretty slow in coming since I'm starting my last year of high school tomorrow but the summer hols should provide plenty of spare time. well i should sleep. Please review... my inbox is starting to feel unloved :'-(.

ta, Charlie


	4. What's going on?

**A/N** - Well this is the chapter I'm told eveyone has been waiting for. Sorry this took so long to write butI really haven't had the energy (stupid Year 12) or the time (again stupid Year 12). Please keep reviewing... my inbox is still feeling unloved, althoughI didn't really give people anything to write about in the last chapter. Well this one gives you plenty so make sure you click the little button down the bottom, even just to let me know that you read it and enjoyed it or didn't enjoy it as the case may be.

ta, Charlie

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha... although my sister wishes it were so. Oh, and I don't own Beauty and the Beast either but I thought that was rather obvious.

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I woke up at about two in the morning because I heard a sound. Dazed and disoriented because I didn't remember where I was I looked around in search of the source of the noise. In the darkness I couldn't see a thing until a movement near the door caught my eye.

"Who's there?" I asked in a trembling voice. No reply came forth, instead whatever it was opened the door and left. For a second I could see its silhouette, although I couldn't figure out whether it was a human or something else, before the door closed behind it and I was left in darkness again. Now that I was awake I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so I got up and went to the window. I fumbled about in the darkness for a moment before I found the latch and opened the window. I pushed the shutters back as quietly as possible and sat there looking at the full moon.

"Where are you Papa?" I whispered into the night. I looked back into the room, able to see now that moonlight streamed in through the open window. The room was beautiful, although very obviously not used often. A fireplace was built into one wall with an armchair placed in front of it. The bed was pushed up against the opposite wall; now that I wasn't so tired I could see that it was a huge four-poster creation with a canopy and drapes. To one side of me as I sat at the window, was a little writing desk and on the other side stood an ornately carved wardrobe.

Suddenly, out of the silence came an almighty roar. Jumping up, I slammed the window shut, afraid that perhaps something might come through the window. I ran over to the door, thinking that maybe someone would be able to tell me what had made the noise but when I tried to turn the handle I found that it would not move. I was locked in!

I struggled with the handle for a few minutes, pulling, pushing, kicking and swearing at it, before giving up and slumping against the door. Slowly the sounds of an argument reached my ears through the door, indistinct yelling followed by short periods of quiet, which I assumed meant that whoever was being yelled at didn't find it necessary to yell back. I pressed my ear hard against the door to try and hear what was being said.

"What on earth possessed you to let her in?" a gruff voice yelled angrily. A muffled reply was all I could hear then the first voice came back, "Are you dim? Of course she'd tell. You seem to forget that we're in the middle of the forest surrounded by little villages. AND NO ONE KNOWS WE'RE HERE! Or at least they don't yet. And they're never going to," I became aware that I was holding my breath and let it go slowly as I strained to hear the next sentence, "I've locked her door. She's not going anywhere." I wasn't so dumb as to not realise that they were talking about me from the first sentence, however I wasn't particularly prepared for that last statement. I'd heard enough, there was obviously something going on here that was not normal, I mean the door was answered by someone who could appear and disappear at will, and then there was whatever was in my room before, probably whoever was yelling now that they'd locked my door. I definitely needed to leave… NOW.

I stood up and walked to the chair where I'd thrown my clothes. Changing back into them I folded the nightdress and put it back on the bed then walked back to the window. Opening it I looked down to the ground then looked sharply back up. There weren't many things that I was scared of, but heights was one of them, and I hadn't realised before how far up the room was. Well, there was nothing for it, I had to go and there was no other way out of the room that I was aware of. I pushed the window as far open as it would go and stood on the windowsill. The surface of the wall felt rough on my fingers as I steadied myself. I took a deep breath and tried to sit down with my legs hanging over the edge but I couldn't. It felt as though there was an invisible barrier stopping my legs from going further than the window ledge. I stood back up and tentatively reached out to see if there was a similar barrier in front of me but there didn't seem to be anything hindering my progress outwards. I took another deep breath; I didn't want to jump so far but I didn't have much of a choice.

"I wouldn't bother," someone growled behind me. Startled, I jumped around and saw the strangest looking person I have ever met. He was human, or looked it for the most part, but something about him was strange. He had long white hair, although he didn't look old, which hung loose down his back and moved in the slight breeze from the window. He was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. His nails looked as though they could do with a cut but that wasn't the strangest thing about him, I realised with a start. The strange thing about him was that he had pointy ears on the top of his head. His yellow eyes glittered as he took a step towards me.

"You wouldn't get very far," he said menacingly, "If the fall didn't kill you, it would definitely break some bones and then you would be back where you started. In here." He took another step forward and I unconsciously took a step backwards, out the open window. In a second he had crossed the room and grabbed my shirt, pulling me back inside.

"Th…thankyou," I gasped, momentarily forgetting that this was the person who wanted to keep me prisoner here. The lapse in memory was soon rectified however and no sooner had I regained my breath, then I stood up and backed away from him.

"What do you want with me?" I asked, not taking my eyes off him.

"I don't want anything with you," he growled, his eyes flashing darkly, "But you cannot leave this place."

"I wouldn't tell," I said, knowing it was useless trying to reason, he wouldn't believe me, "The villagers all think I'm crazy anyway so they wouldn't believe me." He snorted in laughter.

"Do you think others haven't tried that before? It's not a matter of whether they will believe you or not. It's no use arguing, you won't win. Goodnight." He turned his back on me and left the room, making sure he locked the door behind him. I waited a moment before moving back to the window. Broken bones or not I had to leave, but when I got there I found that the barrier I had felt before had moved up so that I couldn't even put my hand outside the window. Screaming in frustration I threw myself onto the bed and lay there fuming. If I'd known this was what would happen I would have stayed in the forest. How was I going to find Papa now? And what was that guy's problem anyway? So what if I told the villagers about this place? It's not like this was the Middle Ages anymore. Sighing I rolled over and tried to sleep, although I knew I wouldn't be able to.

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**A/N** - for those of you who haven't read my profile page i'm doing an extension english course at school and i would really appreciate it if anyone who has an 'authority' in creative writing (i.e. teaching or uni lecturing) could contact me. i need to find someone to work with on my project in a mentoring role and i'm not exactly sure where to start looking so i thought this would be as good a place as any.

ta, charlie


	5. Pierre

When light started streaming into the room I got up and walked to the window. Once again I tried to put my hand outside but the barrier still prevented me from moving past where the glass would have been had the window been shut so I moved to the door, hoping I'd missed the sound of it unlocking during the few short hours I'd lain on the bed. Trying the handle I found that it was still locked. I shook my head and muttered, whoever or whatever that thing was last night he wasn't joking about keeping me here, but I was never really one to panic. To be honest I hadn't really expected either of the ways out of the room to be open, not after the episode with the… thing. What was it anyway?

I closed my eyes and pictured my 'host' as I saw him the night before. The long white hair, well almost silver really, I'd never seen hair that colour not even from a bottle; it gave him an almost ethereal look in the moonlight. His eyes were a golden yellow colour, I'd only seen menace in them at the time but there was some sort of depth to them now that I thought about it… and something else that I couldn't quite put my finger on. His long nails were simply horrifying to look at, they looked as sharp as razor blades and could probably cut better. His clothes… I was finding it difficult to remember them, I'd been too preoccupied with his ears. They were so completely bizarre beyond anything I'd ever encountered. Two little triangles on the top of his head, sticking out from that ethereal hair like… little dog's ears.

I laughed at that. A dog? But that's what he reminded me of, apart from the humanoid features. Those deep eyes and white hair topped off with those ridiculous ears reminded me of a Scottish terrier. And the claws probably had something to do with it too, as I remembered with a wince the painful scratches that our little dog Molly had given me on numerous occasions. Unable to control myself I leant against the wall laughing hysterically until I was interrupted by something that scared the begeezers out of me.

"Bonjour mademoiselle," came the voice of the apparition from last night, somewhere in front of me, "Is anything the matter?" Trying to control myself, and making a mental note to be very careful about dressing and undressing, I shook my head in the direction I thought the voice was coming from. Then I thought about it.

"Actually there is something wrong," I said, trying not to sound accusatory, "It seems that your master has decided he wishes to 'extend his hospitality' further. He said I can't leave and locked the door and there's some sort of barrier thingy at the window," I motioned to the window which was still open, me being unable to reach out and pull it shut.

"Ah oui mademoiselle, I am sorry for my master's behaviour last night. He is very, how you say, protective of his manor. He does not care for intruders."

"I didn't intrude! Well not intentionally anyway. You said I could stay here."

"Oui mademoiselle, I am sorry. I did not foresee the master's reaction."

"Obviously," I muttered.

"In the meanwhile, is there anything I can do for you? Would you care for some breakfast?" I shook my head.

"No, I'm not hungry thankyou." To be honest I wasn't sure I could trust this place anymore, not that I should have in the first place. My mind wandered to Year 7 history and the legend of that Greek goddess who was kidnapped by Hades and the whole story of how winter came into being because she ate some pomegranate seeds so she had to stay down there for six months of the year and her mother was the nature goddess or something and got really depressed when her daughter had to go down to hell. Finally I realised the apparition was talking to me.

"Mademoiselle are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"I was saying I would talk to the master about unlocking your door. I am unable to physically do it myself however I believe there is no reason for him to keep you locked in here… one who willingly enters is unable to leave the grounds." My heart had lifted at the prospect of being let out of this room, with the possibility of being able to run away once no one was watching, but it fell again at his last sentence. It seemed the dog-man was determined to keep me here. Then it hit me.

"Why is he so worried that I'll run and tell if I can't leave the grounds anyway?"

"He does not know. There are many things about this manor that even the master does not fully understand yet," I raised my eyebrows in confusion but said nothing, "Well if you do not need anything I will go. If you decide you are hungry then simply ring the bell. I will speak to the master as soon as he has calmed down."

"Thankyou," I said, standing up off the floor, "Oh and by the way, what's your name?"

"Pierre," the apparition said and suddenly I felt alone.

"Are you still here?" I asked quietly. I received no answer so I assumed Pierre was gone. I sighed and looked around the room. I had a feeling I would be alone in the room for a while but there didn't seem to be anything in particular to do. Finally I decided to write a letter to Ella; I wouldn't be able to send it but at least it would give me something to do.

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**A/N - **I'm sorry this took so long to update. I just started my HSC year and things have been extremely crazy just at school... not to mention in my personal life. That and I've had major writer's block and I've had to put all the creative energy I could muster into my Extension 2 project. However I am now on my summer break (well I will be after Monday). I know this chapter is horrible... it's just a filler and something to get the guilt off my mind because I knew I should have been updating.

Anyway I can't remember who it was and I'm too lazy to check my e-mails to see but someone said they kept seeing 'the beast' as an elf... to clarify he is not an elf in any way, shape or form. He has triangular ears in the top of his head (i.e. not in the normal position). If you want to see a picture of him as I see him, go to google or any other image search engine and type in 'InuYasha'. Anyway Mum's chucking a damn hissy fit so I should go. Review!

Ta, Charlie


	6. AN this will be deleted with new chap

Hello all

I'm sorry I haven't updated in a LONG time but I have been snowed under with school work and helping to organise my mother's 40th birthday party. I'm suffering under a huge case of writers block in everything creative I'm trying to do and I really need to concentrate on my extension 2 project for English. I'm not sure how long it will take me to write another chapter so please be patient, I know I'm not the most reliable person in the world and it's my final year so I'm afraid school must take precedence (otherwise I would love to spend all of my time writing fanfiction). I've been getting a lot of reviews telling me to write more and it's very encouraging but unfortunately I'm not really in a position to do so at the moment. I'll try to at least finish the chapter I've started in the next two weeks.

Thanks again and sorry

Charlie


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